joining us now the man himself drew
brees drew good morning how
are you this morning good morning holder
doing great well it's great to see a boy
that must have been a big decision
i was thinking about you because i know
your love for the saints and i
love i know your love for that city um
drew when did you know for sure
that it was time to say goodbye to
football
you know that's a that's a decision that
you don't just wake up one day and say
hey i'm gonna retire um it's it's
definitely a process
and listen i'm i'm 42 years old i've had
a chance to play
this game for 20 years in the nfl and
i think for the last few years you know
i felt like this this moment was coming
and it just made me so laser focused on
staying in the moment
each and every day enjoying the moment
enjoying
uh the preparation enjoying the grind
enjoying the celebrations with my
teammates
just knowing that at some point uh i
will retire and move on to the next
chapter
and i want to be able to look back with
incredible memories
and knowing that i gave it my absolute
best when you ran off the field that
time and looked back over your shoulder
pad
did you kind of know then that that was
it i did
um you know really i i've approached the
last four seasons with that mentality of
i'm just going to pour everything i have
into the season and then i'll give
myself
um at least a little while after the
season to soaking in with my family and
my wife brittany
and then make a very thoughtful decision
but i think going into this season i
felt like
this was going to be it and let's go get
it
drew what are you going to miss the most
about football
you know there's so many things i mean
that the moments on the field after the
game
i think those are the moments that my
kids most most look forward to
you know it's the game after the game um
i think that's been one of the most
special parts of this whole journey
is watching our kids grow
up through this and be able to
you know retain the information and and
and
come to the saints facility and you know
they would jump in the hot tub with me
they jumped
up with me they jump in the whirlpool
they run around the indoor facility and
then
they just could not wait you know they
bring their footballs to the game
knowing that they would have an
opportunity to go on the field after to
play so
having them be a part of this and
knowing that there's memories
and and hopefully moments of inspiration
for them that will last a lifetime
that's that's what it's all about let's
go back to when you moved to new orleans
i remember i just thought it was the
most interesting thing of all because
you would just come off
almost a career ending injury with san
diego and new orleans was decimated
after hurricane katrina decimated and i
thought look at these two misfits
how are these two things going to come
together and create magic
and you won you ended up winning the
super bowl the saints won the super bowl
a few years later but it should not have
worked
that combination why do you think it did
you know i i feel like there was divine
intervention there
um you know i can remember like it was
yesterday brittany and i visiting new
orleans and it was six months post
katrina and
you know the city was just in shambles
and um i think
the saints were trying to show us the
best of the city and they were trying to
show us
you know maybe some neighborhoods that
were still intact and hey look you can
you can live here you can raise a family
you know this is a great place and
it wasn't until sean payton got lost
driving us back to the saints facility
at one point because keep in mind he had
only been there a month
and he got lost in lakeview right next
to the 17th street canal
where some of the worst flooding and
destruction had occurred
and i remember seeing houses ripped off
the foundations and in fact at one point
the car
stopped and we both looked up and there
was a tugboat in the middle of the road
so we had to turn around because we we
couldn't pass and that was the moment
where brittany and i looked at each
other and said this is so much more than
just football
this is part of the resurrection
resurgence of one of america's greatest
cities
and we have a chance to be a part of
this this is a calling oh my gosh that
it certainly is and you know new orleans
you know is the kind of city and you
said this in your
in your comments too but if you love it
it loves you back and it loves you back
hard uh how have people been reacting to
you
it's uh it's been amazing um i think
just the outpouring of
of support and emotion and memories
um you know that's uh
i i think anything you do especially
when you just pour your heart and soul
into it
i think you hope that you're able to
impact people in a really positive way
and um you know life is full of defining
moments in life is full of
uh kind of next chapters and and i i
think that
whenever you leave one chapter and and
go on to the next one i think you you
hope to have left a legacy behind it
where
you left it better than when you found
it and i think that's always been my
philosophy that's always the way i've
tried to approach
life and these are memories in these
relationships that will last a lifetime
and we're all better for it
okay you said next chapter you said next
chapter so what's our next chapter drew
what you got cooking
well i am going to be working for nbc
[Applause]
i'm part of the team now yes a new team
um so i'm listen i'm excited about that
journey i'm excited to stay
very closely connected with the game of
football um it's been such an important
part of my life
um and i continue to
be able to to talk about it and show a
passion for it and uh
bring my kids along for for the ride
there as well and and let them be part
of some of those special moments and
there's so many philanthropic endeavors
that uh
we are involved with um especially here
in the city of new orleans and
a lot of those will be announced here
over the coming months um i'll be honest
i am most excited about those things
because i think that's where we can make
the biggest impact
and there's still so much need in this
country and certainly in this city
and i'm excited that we have the
opportunity to
be involved in those things and uh
create some models some sustainable
models
that we can replicate throughout this
country to continue
to push this forward drew uh you're
incredible i have a candle in my
dressing room you guys and it's like
saint drew literally they sent it to me
a safe candle and your face is on it
and uh it kind of is defined normal
right true that's totally normal
drew you got to practice broadcasting
babe though it's not simple all right
she's saying come over she'll she'll
give some lessons you know to go to
the advanced school i'm wrong we'll help
you out and i just want you to know i'm
representing today like i do every day
love you drew we love you too all right
we'll see you here at 30 rock soon okay
congrats
[Laughter]
first ballot hall of fame quarterback
yeah mark my words first ballot hall of
fame sports broadcaster as well oh he's
going to be
amazing all right drew we'll see you
around the we'll see you around here
soon okay
okay thank you future's looking great
everywhere
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